We are adamant and ephemeral in our feelings. There are core feelings, deep, abiding tides, then there are the shifting currents of emotion.
We make decisions based on both, but too often, on the latter.It is so hard to recognise what is solid, real feeling, and what is the mood of now.
The difference between depression and being depressed, really.
The currents were rising above my head tonight. I got thrown a lifeline by a simple message that made me laugh with joy, and yet had nothing to do with me except as a shared tale.
Through all that has happened in the last few years, I have struggled with currents. They are just currents though, and I can swim, for I have so many lifeboats in my ocean.
The quote is from Lord Of The Rings - and very apt for my rescuer tonight. A lover of Ents.
…and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.
For tg,who was an inspiration to post on a cold day:)
Some say that being an atheist means never having to believe in anything. Those are usually people who do not believe in atheists;) However, I do believe in many things.
One of the things I believe in is education as a key to liberation, and societal growth. Education consists of many components - after all, we want well rounded members of society, (which implies well resourced, inspired and inspiring teachers).
I would like to see everyone come out of the education system a little wiser than the previous generation. It is about tools, people. To build a better society, you need to provide better tools.
I would like to see everyone come out of a decent education system able to sew, cook, clean, balance their bank accounts, quote Shakespeare, understand that those who fail to learn from history are almost certain to repeat it, (I know, I am not quoting directly), and have accordingly an understanding of history and its’ pertinent milestones, as unpalatable & tragic as they can often be.
I would like to see everyone have an understanding, and hopefully, in
some measure an appreciation for, if not a love of, music, art,
literature.
I would like to see religion taught, not as a
‘how to pray’ scenario, with one religion holding sway, but an
understanding and a reverence for all who believe - and do not.
I would like to see everyone come out with a grounding in mathematics and science - including scientific method (based on observable, measurable, empirical facts and evidence), and the skills to apply such principles as Occam’s Razor to situations. The value of theory and hypothesis, rather than guesswork, or a wish to believe.
With all that in mind, I am vehemently against the teaching of Intelligent Design. It introduces faith into science, where it does not belong. ‘We can’t explain how it started, so God started it all’ is not a scientific hypothesis.
…and devoted it to improving the lives of children who have been born into lives of poverty, violence, and neglect, they could make a world shine. Let me dispel a myth here. Women (the overwhelming majority) who get an abortion do not do so lightly. Nor do they regard abortion as contraception.
Sometimes, it is just not viable to continue the pregnancy to the stage where there is a viable human being.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
I have never had to conn a ship. I believe I could set a bone or butcher a hog, but I wouldn’t enjoy it. Not the point though. The rest I have participated in to some degree, or done thoroughly. So, is this point of view valid? I happen to think so.
Oh, while we are on Heinlein :
“The loss of manners is the first sign of the decay of a society. People lose their manners and then they start voting for cake and circuses (modern welfare and other social programs that put a band aid on a problem instead of fixing it). One of the early sign of the loss of manners is how clean public rest rooms are.”
My youngest child, my small lad, that sweet little zoomy guy, turns five on the 27th. He was a very sick little man when born, a difficult, life saving caesarian, frightening for us both, had to struggle with life and death stuff.
For my sweet lad died at birth. I was pretty ill, so did not realise till after, when they said he was ill but would pull through, just how close I came to not having my tough boy. But tough he is, and with the amazing, magic staff at Flinders NICU, he made it. Two weeks of antibiotics, and one on one care, and he never looked back.
Here is an article discussing the cost of some of the frailer babies we saw in NICU. My close to 6 pound lad looked like a monster baby among them.
Which of them wasn’t worth trying to save?
And again, always, daily thank you to NICU staff, for saving my son, and my sanity. It was two weeks of fear, and huge dramas and I could not have made it without them, or my magic friends.
I enrolled him for school this week. The kindy has said but I already knew, he is very bright, articulate, warm, loving, funny, and clever.
…from the party line. What we are seeing once again is a self-appointed group of vigilantes imposing their views on others. It is a heritage of communism, but they don’t seem to see this.
Personally, I see political correctness as committee madness - a good idea of tolerance and respect completely out of hand, with no humour or sense of proportion.
So, lets throw some of that back in the mix, shall we? And can I just say how much I pine for MST3K to return??? The world has no chance for peace, no happy puppies and kittens, no sunshiny smiles, until it returns. Or something.
…to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
So much change in my life this month.So much more upcoming. May I meet it with grace and dignity, and may I have serenity in doing what must be done.
The moving finger has written and moved on, change again and again to be embraced:)
…for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.
Listening to music, pondering my melancholy.
A self indulgent past time, perhaps, but not also not done enough. We rush through life, avoiding grief, looking for quick fixes and relief for pain. Maybe we need to stop, slow, listen to ourselves a bit. Allow that pain and grief to tell us what we need to learn. Acknowledge, accept, and move on to a new tomorrow.
I have found such times to be incredibly valuable. So, allow me the whimsy of sharing this. I feel sorrow, and loss, and I will give it tonight to have its time in the foreground of my mind. Tomorrow, it must give way for the everyday small joys that form my life. For I enjoy my life, it is relatively peaceful after all. I have a vast amount of gratitude for my world, and have little reason for fear or anguish.
I am so lucky that I will, tonight, indulge in the luxury of melancholy.
